I Want to Reach You across the Tears
by GrammarKnighty
Summary: Lee Shiuchon lies on her deathbed at the young age of 27, only to wake up 20 years younger, in the room she used to sleep in before she moved away. Shadows of her past(future?) looms in the corner of her vision no matter where she goes. Is this her punishment, to suffer from her family's kind looks that she once took for granted? Or is this her chance to start anew? AU
1. Death and Life

**The title is named after both Shiuchon's and Takato's respective image song, Todokitai na(I want to reach you) and Across the Tears. The fandom is lacking in Takato x Shiuchon fic so I though why not and wrote it. It's a bit au since it post-tamer. Hope you'll like it.**

* * *

It's funny how her life turns out.

At 1 she spoke her first word. It was nothing impressive, but she remembers clearly her mom telling her how she would keep gushing over her for saying "mama" instead of "papa". Her dad was disheartened but he cheered up once her mouth got the hang of saying harder words, one of them being "dad". If her parents haven't burned it yet, there should be a picture in her old room where her dad throws her up into the air, smiling as bright as the sun.

She has always been a bit of a dreamer so at 5 she decided what to do with her life and that was to be a bride. There was no special reason for it. She just happened to watch a marriage advertisement and the life of a married couple enticed her. It'd have been cute if it ended there but she proved to her family how stubborn she was by sticking to the dream to this day… or at least to this morning…

At 7 she met her best friends, a pair of Digimon named Lopmon and Terriermon. They were the Yin and Yang of each other, one too quiet the world wouldn't notice he existed, the other not so quiet the world just gave up telling him to shut up.

She met Terriermon first and played with him the most but he was her brother's Digimon. It wasn't until she met Lopmon that she got over her jealousy watching her brother with Terriermon and formed a bond so strong not even a human-proof firewall in the shed at Shinjuku Park could sever. Lopmon was her world, her everything. His outdated way of speaking grated at her ears but she'd have him no other way.

Now that she thinks about it, she did treat them like dolls more than real people(Digimon). How unfortunate their meeting would end just there, right after defeating the D-Reaper.

The cost of defeating the monstrosity that was D-Reaper, either the Digimon stay and cause more chaos, or the Digimon leave and the world would be at peace. Heh, should. Her world was never the same after they left. The fact her father caused all this? Worse.

At 13 she gathered enough gal to rebel against her parents. She kicked furniture, threw ceramics, pretty much wrecked the house and putting everything Ruki taught her to good use. She got grounded, yes, but it was satisfying.

At 18 after she collected enough money from working as a part-timer cashier and writer, she moved out of her house, the pleas of her mom left unanswered. How is she now Shiuchon wondered. She must be really disappointed how her youngest daughter, her most spoiled daughter, turned out. Jen-niichan, Jaarin-neechan, and Rinchei-niichan. They never did get to see her leave, didn't they? No goodbye at all. It's sad, but no turning back time now.

Leaving alone was tough. She realized just being a writer would only feed her and not the landlady who kept coming to collect rent so she took up more part-time jobs. By then she was proud to say she was a master of multitasking, heheh.

At 20, when her life couldn't get any better because it was so bad something surprisingly pleasant actually happened… and that was finding her true love. Natsuki Makoto, childhood friend, fellow Tamer, everything but welcome in her life hiding away from her past. He wanted to notify her family but she convinced him(with pens and lots of bottles of non-human-stomach-friendly-ink)to not reveal anything about her. She didn't know how it happened but they came to a compromise: she'd let him tell her family how she was doing and in return, he'd support her financially. He was 17. Shiuchon had no idea from what treasure vault that guy pulled out all the money from, but hey, free money. She wasn't complaining.

At 25, as a result of constant contact and their developing relationship from acquaintances to friends to Digimon card game rivals, they decided it was time to further their relationship. And thus, Shiuchon x Makoto ship sailed. It helped that both of them were closeted fanfic readers and writers.

After a long and fantastic two years of bliss, as she got closer to fulfilling her life-long dream, at last, at 27, she has not only her heart shattered by her Knight in Shining Armor but also her bones from the speeding up vehicle that sent her rolling into the hospital.

Funny, right?

And now, she's on her deathbed, her almost unrecognizable family around her, not unlike that one scene she's watched in a drama where the antagonist realized her mistakes and apologized.

...as if. She can't even speak.

But if she could, she'd say how wrong she was for leaving them, how she missed them so much, how she'd want to return to their happy times together. Heh, wishful thinking.

"Shiuchon," her now wrinkled dad holds her heavily bandaged right hand, the only part he can hold since her whole body is mummified. There's no mom to hold the other. She was dead after all, 2 years ago. To think her mom was still calling for her child's name even on her last breath. Meanwhile, said child was busy having a feast at a friend's party. Gosh, she really is an antagonist in this story, isn't she?

"Shiuchon, it's me, dad. You remember me, right?"

Yes, she does. After all, one doesn't simply forget the man who took everything away from them. But she feels no anger towards him. Not anymore. Long since she has discarded her irrational teenage mind in exchange for common sense. If only she could raise her head, look at him straight in the eyes, tell him she's sorry. Tears prickle at her eyes.

"It's okay, sweety. Daddy's here. There's nothing to be afraid of."

No, he's got it all wrong. She's not crying because she's afraid of dying. She deserves it for all the pain she's caused.

A loud but faint shout comes from a distant, something about heart rate but she can't hear clearly. Heart rate? Ah, she's dying. so that's why dad said that.

"Dad." That's a voice she doesn't recognize. A man standing at the edge of her limited vision moves closer to stand by dad. Is that, Jen-niichan? He looks so different. More mature. And is that a child at his leg? Does that mean Jaarin-neechan and Rinchei-neechan have kids too? Wha... what is this? Makoto didn't tell her this. How could she miss this? She has nieces and nephews she's never known until now. What else has she been missing? What else?!

"It'll all be okay, Shiuchon," Jen-niichan dabs at her collecting tears with a handkerchief, gently touching her cheeks. She's forgotten how good it feels. "There, there. No more crying. You're already a big girl, right, Shiuchon?"

She wants to nod! She wants to tell him she hears him, God! Why? Why?! Why does she have to die in this way. She wants to tell them to be happy, to not worry about her anymore. Is this karma, her punishment for all her wrong deeds? If so then... if so, she accepts it. She's caused so much misery for everyone. She deserves to suffer for all eternity.

"When you see mom, tell her we're all right here. Goodbye, Shiuchon," his voice breaks. Not a second after, her breath leaves her, and no more is coming in. So this is death. Well, then. She's not ready for whatever's waiting on the other side, but she'll face it.

'So this is goodbye…' she sheds one last silent tear.

* * *

_I stretched up and looked far away._

_Right now, I still only know a little bit but..._

_I want to reach you, I want to meet you._

_I'll fall back many times but I'll see the me that I dreamed of..._

_...someday._

* * *

An alarm clock ringing on her right wakes her up. She tries reaching for it but can't reach it even though it sounds so near. Her hand also feels off or some reason.

"Shiuchon, c'mon. Wake up. You wanna be late for school? This is why you shouldn't stay up late."

Eh, that voice. She recognized once upon a time. Wait, isn't that-

"Shiuchon!"

"Now, now, Jenrya. Be gentle," a woman's voice says.

Shiuchon opens up her eyes and sees the face of the angel who gave birth to her. So she's really dead. But then, the other voice-

"Come on now, sweety. It's time for school. Here," the woman holds out a hand. Shiuchon stares at her. "What's wrong? Um… how many fingers do I have?" her mom shows her four fingers.

"Shiuchon, just get off the bed. Giving puppy eyes to mom won't work. Shiuchon?" the voice from earlier says but she mutes it out to focus on the woman before her.

"Mom," a high-pitched voice. Is that hers? No, that doesn't matter right now. What really matters is, "Is this weally you?" Her slur goes almost unnoticed as she tries to make sense of all this.

"Huh? What are you talking about? Of course I am."

Time stops as Shiuchon takes in all the features on the woman's face. The tiny, square glasses, the violet eyes behind it that Shiuchon always sees on her own reflection in the mirror, the warm smiles that used to greet her every morning without fail. Shiuchon choked.

"Shiucho-"

Shiuchon didn't know where the strength came from. She literally just died. She feels like dying again. Her limbs heavy, she pulls throws herself onto the woman. She hugs her, crying into her chest and getting snots all over her apron. It's her. It's mom.

"Oh, you had a nightmare. My poor baby. Mommy's here. Everything's alright now." Her soothing voice spread through her body. If the world ended now she wouldn't feel it.

How she misses this warmth nobody can give. How she misses this gentle caress that runs on her back and on her head. How she misses this woman she called mom.

In every tear and cry she let out, she tells her just how much she loves her.

* * *

**Reviews are appreciated. Constructive criticism is welcome. Flames are allowed as long you don't make me wonder if you're a troll or simply a concerned reader. Anything is allowed basically. I'm that desperate XD.**


	2. Mother and Daughter

**This is the first fic that I write in present tense. Excuse any error if you see them. Seriously, present tense is hard. But anyhow, enjoy**

* * *

There were a plethora of reasons why she left home all those years ago, but Shiuchon can't find any that was justified. They all boiled down to her rebellious streak, her contempt for dad and by extension the whole family for not supporting her, and her selfish desire to be free.

Every day, she would wake up before dawn and to be greeted by the smell of the warm bowl of congee that never failed to appear on the dining table. She never saw it, but she suspected it was mom. The strange thing was the congee tasted… not bad, but not something one would expect from a good cook. She never questioned it much though. As long as it filled her stomach. After that, she was all set for a day of endless work.

Unlike her older siblings, Shiuchon didn't continue schooling after reaching 15. Education was compulsory only until lower secondary level, so there was no point in going anymore. So Shiuchon decided to start working early instead. She needed the money after all if she wanted to leave home.

Out of all the jobs she did, only two she managed to stick with. A cashier during weekdays, and a writer for a magazine company during weekends.

Outside of work, contact with people, including her family, was minimal. They kept trying to close the gap between them, but she always pushed them back.

At last, after a gruelling 3 years 4 months and 15 days of slaving herself, she managed to get the number in her bank account to 5 digits. She packed her things up, said goodbye to her room, and walked out the front door… only for mom to pull her back inside. They argued. She wouldn't be surprised if the whole building heard them with how loud they were.

Shiuchon finished all arguments by pushing mom away and said some bad things. In hindsight, she shouldn't have done that. It's a wonder why mom kept missing her and wanting her back.

So that was why when she woke up seeing that face again, one last time, she couldn't stop from jumping into her arms and apologized for all she'd said and done. She didn't want the warm touches and soft voice to disappear, so she hugged her tight until darkness claimed her again, warmth slowly leaving her until only a dark, cold void that remains.

So, this is it right? No more surprises. Only punishments await her.

...alright. She's ready. Come whatever may, she'll face it. Or at least try.

Then, piercing through the darkness, a light strikes straight through her closed eyelids. It burned like no others. It engulfs her whole body, forcing sweat out of her skin. It's-

"Hot!"

Shiuchon jumped, falling backwards and… bouncing? Wait, this soft texture, the bouncing… is this a bed? Upon further inspection, yes it is. Not only that, she recognizes the Hello Kitty design on the sheet. It's hers, from when she was a child! But the sheet's colors are brighter, not dull.

What… what's the meaning of this? Did she actually survive? Then, was that all a dream. She only dreamed about mom… It wasn't real. Something slowly twisted in her gut.

So her family took her back here, huh?

A slight change in the lighting leaves her momentary blind as sunlight intrudes her vision.

"Ouch!" She instinctively raises a hand over her eyes, blinking them. The light comes from the open window, the princess themed curtain blowing slowly. Didn't they throw it out. Leave her family to keep the best memory they have of hers intact, when she was 7. She sighed. Now, isn't that a sad thought.

Wait. Her eyes widen.

Her hand. It's small. Both hands actually. She stares at them, shaking.

"Shit… Wait, this is my voice?" It's higher pitched than it should be. No no no no no. If she were in any other situation, hearing a child's voice swearing would have been funny.

"This is too weiwd--My sluw!" God! She spent years trying to get rid of that annoying thing! But… having it back could only mean one thing.

Biting on her lip she reluctantly looks down. There, tangled on her feet is a pink blanket, hardly doing its job as half of it falls down the bed, covering the floor instead. Gulping, she slowly lifts it up, only to drop it in shock.

She realizes two things. One, she's somehow the size of a child. Two, her "dream" earlier might not be a dream but that's because it was real. Colors draining from her face, she takes a long, deep breath.

"I need a miwwow."

She moves over to the edge of the bed, intending to climb down. Her own, now smaller body doesn't get that however. Her right hand misses the edge just by a few inches. From that point onward, gravity's in charge, pulling her down heading for the floor. Literally.

"Aah!"

* * *

Lee Mayumi's proud to say she's the mother of four lovely children. Two handsome sons, two beautiful daughters, all with their own unique quirks that she's all but jotted down on separate notebooks. They're all too special to share just one.

Jangyuu always laughs whenever he sees her writing in them but he doesn't know how helpful these are when dealing with his children. She loves them all, yes, but if they weren't her children, she doesn't know if she could handle the stress. Who knows how many years they've cut from her lifespan with all their sibling banters? She sighs, smiling at the memories. She won't trade them for the world.

Closing and putting the notebooks to the side, she hums as she stares off into the blue sky from the sofa. What a nice view, perfect for a woman who's off work to pass time. Jangyuu had really thought it through, placing this sofa here opposite the large window. The sky can only satisfy her boredom for so long however. She's getting restless. It's not like she has anyone to talk to with the children at school and Jangyuu at work. But then there's Shiuchon, currently sleeping in her room.

It was a surprise, waking her up this morning only for her daughter to suddenly hug her, crying and apologizing for something over and over again. It must have been a really bad nightmare. Poor child. Hopefully a day off school will calm her down. Hm… wait, what's this smell? She sniffs the air and gets a whiff of dashi-

Mayumi quickly jumps off the sofa, heading straight for the kitchen to check on her forgotten soup. Good thing she remembers. Nothing smells like burning so everything's good she hopes.

Before she can even step past the kitchen's doorway however, a scream comes from Shiuchon's room.

"Aah!" A heavy thump follows.

Motherly instinct immediately takes over her and she runs to Shiuchon's room, pushing the door so hard it almost fly out of its hinges.

"Shiuchon. What's-"

Whatever she wants to say gets stuck in her throat as hundreds of… colourful phrases that she will definitely need to address after this with her daughter. She walks to her and crouches down to help her stand up.

Shiuchon is lying face-planted to the floor, struggling to get up with her feet up in the air. In any other situation, she may have laughed, but her daughter's teary face makes her heart stop.

"Mom?" Shiuchon choked, the anger in her voice from earlier fading away. With her position on the floor, she has to strain her eyes looking up to meet Mayumi's eyes.

Mayumi quickly helps her get up, seating her on the bed and wiping her tears with her thumb. She gently strokes her daughter's forehead she fell on, noting the faint lines from the floor mark her face. There's no splinter or injury anywhere. She has a bad case of bed hair though, something she always makes sure to fix even after just waking up.

Mayumi takes a spot beside Shiuchon before promptly picking her up. Shiuchon's put on some weight since her last birthday, the only sign she's growing up healthy since the girl refuses to eat anything that can compromise her chance with her future husband, or in her own words, "mawwiage destwoying food". With how fast she's growing, her daughter's definitely gonna be leaving her soon. Watching how fragile she is right now though reminds Mayumi that she still has a lot of time before she'll have to leave the nest.

"There, there." Mayumi gently caresses her daughter, singing a soft lullaby that usually works to calm her children down. Shiuchon doesn't seem like falling asleep anytime soon, but she's crying less now at least, snuggling into her chest.

"Does it still hurt?" Mayumi asked softly, looking at the bundle of magenta hair below her.

Shiuchon doesn't answer at first, but then slowly nods, pulling herself back and wiping away her still flowing tears.

It's quiet for a few seconds, Shiuchon's sniffling being the only sound in the room other than the background traffic noise.

"Mom?"

"Yes, Shiuchon?"

"I smeww something."

Oh goodness, her soup! She forgot about it again! Dumb, dumb, dumb… Mayumi lets out a sigh. Oh well, maybe a part of it is still salvageable. Looking back at Shiuchon, Mayumi caresses her hair some more.

"Mommy's gonna check on your breakfast, so stay here, okay?"

"Can… can I go too?" Shiuchon sounds so broken in that sentence. This can't be because of falling earlier. Is it the nightmare again? It was that bad?

Giving Shiuchon a smile, Mayumi pulls herself up and puts her down. "Come on, then."

She offers her hand to which Shiuchon didn't waste a second to accept. Mayumi leads her daughter to the kitchen, making sure she doesn't fall with how awkward she's walking. Mayumi briefly notes how strongly her daughter grips her hand.

* * *

So. She broke down. Again.

Shiuchon had once thought she knew herself enough to be in full control of her emotion. But seeing mom again just now, something inside her just… woke up. A "daughterly instinct" so to speak. She feared, still does, that if she looked away, mom would disappear. Even now with mom clearly in front of her, sitting across her at the table, staring at her, she can't help but steal some glances while eating her soup.

"So, how does it taste?" mom asks in that angelic voice of hers.

Shiuchon can't say. It's good, but it tastes different from how she herself usually makes--no, made. Past tense. She's… in the past now, however that works. It feels like a dream. Maybe it is and she's now in a coma somewhere in the hospital instead of, well, dead and revived in the past. Who knows? Everything's confusing right now. Stuff like this should only happen in fanfics, not real life.

"So? How is it?" Mom's voice kicks her back into the real world. Like, really kicks, cause she almost falls off the chair trying to catch the spoon she accidentally throws out of surprise.

"Wa!" She grips the table just in time to stop the fall. This will teach her to not space out again anytime in the… past?

"Careful." The worry-laden face of mom greets her when she manages to not faceplant again today. Her head hurts enough as it is even without the concussion, thanks.

Shiuchon fakes a smile she knows for sure won't fool anybody.

"I'm fine. The soup's fine too." She turns the smile into a grin, hoping it'll be more convincing.

Mom doesn't buy it. Either her grin or her claims, she doesn't know, but she's betting it's the grin.

But it does taste different. Delicious, warm, homey, but different. It's been so long since she last had mom's cooking she's forgotten the taste. It's… nostalgic. She's missed this so much. Mom, this food, this dining table with more than a pair of chairs, everything. Is this… is this what they call a second chance? Something warm and wet drips down her cheek. She's crying again.

She immediately picks up the bowl and drinks from it, hoping mom doesn't notice. The spoon she's thrown earlier lay calmly on the edge of the table, forbidden from touching the soup.

As she savours the heavenly taste and feels its warmth coursing through her body, the rest of the family cross her mind. Dad especially. She'll have to face them this evening when they come home. No, god, she won't be able to handle it. So many things could go wrong if she sees them today. Maybe she could pretend to be sick and hide in her room at least for a few days?

Mom's (concerned?) voice pulls her out of her musing.

"Shiuchon, about this morning," mom starts, her eyes full of that concern she hasn't just misheard. Shiuchon of all people shouldn't be the one receiving that look. She's hurt the woman so much even if she's not aware of that. But here it is, the kind look that occasionally haunted her dreams at night, directed right at her. Maybe this isn't a second chance after all, but a punishment made specifically to taunt and torture her conscience.

"Yeah?" She put down the bowl, its base thumping against the wooden surface of the table.

Mom hesitates, biting on her lip. Another thing she passes on to Shiuchon other than her eyes.

"Can you tell me about the nightmare?"

Nightmare? Oh, her crying fits. It must've looked like that from mom's eyes. Just a child having a bad dream. If that's the case, then...

"It's-" nothing, she wants to say but cuts off because something just occurs to her. One of the reasons she fought so much with her family is because of their lack of communication. They, or rather she, hadn't wanted any real conversation with them.

She remembers having this exact event playing out sometimes after the D-Reaper. Yeah. She had a nightmare about Lopmon leaving her forever and mom sat there on the table right across her, just like now, trying to talk to her. There wasn't any soup, just a cup of tea. There was shouting and yelling though, from herself in particular. She got so mad at dad and mom just had to remind her of what he did. It was the start of their broken relationship. For a child, she really knew how to keep a grudge.

Can she change that this time? She bites on her lip.

Mom wouldn't believe her if she said she just died and somehow time-travelled to the past alive and well. But that's the point, isn't it? Adults don't believe what their children may say because they know it's not true. She just has to tell everything that's happened up to this point. But won't it be weird for a child to dream about being rebellious and all. Then there's that breaking up with her boyfriend part. Yeah, half truth will do.

* * *

_The sounds of rain outside faded away as Makoto closed the door behind him, wet and crestfallen._

_"What's wrong, Mako-kun?"_

_"Shiuchon, I'm sorry."_

_"Makoto?"_

_"It's your mom. She's… She's gone."_

_The plate of hot cookies she made fell to the floor, the plate shattering and shards of it sticking out of her feet._

* * *

"You died," Shiuchon croaked, watching the slowly changing emotion on mom's face, the face she shouldn't be seeing right now. "You wewen't thewe. I kept calling fow you but you didn't weply, I-"

She chokes on air and curls into herself, feeling a dam inside her about to burst. Some nights, she'd dream of the time they were together. Some others, she couldn't sleep at all because she kept hearing mom's voice in her nightmare, saying she hated her.

"I was afwaid. I thought... I wouldn't see you again." And here mom is, standing right in front of her in the flesh, breathing. "I'm gwad… to see you again…" and the dam breaks.

Mom rushes to her side and picks her up, singing that lullaby Shiuchon would always sing whenever she gets lonely. Heh, another thing from mom. Shiuchon's gotten so much from her but she'd(she's?) never gotten anything in return even until her death bed.

After some more minutes of a warm cuddle and gentle caress, mom deems Shiuchon's calmed down enough to sit on the chair without breaking down again. Shiuchon wipes away some remaining tears and--ugh--snots and looks at mom who's crouching to her level.

"Shiuchon, mommy's not ever gonna leave you, okay?" She pushes away some bangs from Shiuchon's face. "Mommy will always be here for you. Got that? Who else would hug you if you cry again like this," She bops her in the nose, giggling.

It's contagious enough Shiuchon giggles as well.

She nods."Got it."

"And why are you crying so much today? You wouldn't want your groom to run away on your wedding day, would you?" Mom says in a mocking voice and tries to bop her again. Shiuchon quickly covers her nose with both hands before she can.

"Stop it," Shiuchon tries to whine but it comes out muffled. "And I don't cawe about that anymowe."

"You don't?" Mom's genuinely surprised she drops the mocking voice. She really was obsessed with that marriage thing wasn't she?

Shiuchon shakes her head.

"I just want to be with you. With evewyone." She's not ever going to leave this family again, especially not for something superficial like love.

Mom smiles at her weird, like she's confused, but then pats her head.

"Very well then."

Shiuchon gives a small smile. She's decided. She'll change the future. No more breaking this family apart.

* * *

Keeping her finger in place, Shiuchon guides a needle she took from mom's room to hover above it. She pricks it.

Shiny, red droplets ooze out of her left pointer finger, painful stings vibrating around it. No doubt about it. It hurts like bitch. Maybe she shouldn't have stuck it too deep.

"This is weal, awwight." Shiuchon lets out an ambiguous sigh(cause she herself doesn't know what it is), not so much relieved, but not quite exasperation either. She slumps at the feet of her bed, sticking the needle in an old doll she found in her closet before sliding it under the bed.

While being back here is nice and all, her mind couldn't help but remind her of the Satoshi coma conspiracy theory in the Pokemon fandom. So, she sneaked into mom's room, stole a needle from her sewing kit, and started her first masochistic ritual behind the bed in case mom barges in again. It hurts, which proves(she hopes) this isn't some sick reality her own mind's made.

Shaking her head, she climbs up the bed, slowly this time, and promptly drops down to suffocate herself with a pillow cause why not. "Uff!" The bed creaks under the sudden weight.

This day has been tiring and it isn't even noon yet. She has to be in the same room as the other family members too. Let's hope she survives.

The ambient noise of traffic from outside somehow brings peace to the chaos that is her mind right now. Maybe she could download it online and listen from her Smartph-

God, they haven't invented smartphones yet at this point in time. She feels like crying again, but for an entirely different reason. Her fanfics' files, all her works, gone, literally lost in time. Awh...

"2001, huh?" she tries speaking with her nose crumpled against the pillow. Seeing that 4-digit-number on the calendar earlier brought a contradictory feeling of joy and sadness inside her.

She used to read her diaries, other than reports of the D-Reaper, over and over again to remind herself about Lopmon, to keep the memory of him fresh. 2001, in her timeline, was the year the D-Reaper emerged and was defeated. The same year she met Lopmon and parted with him. The same year everything went south.

Shiuchon rolls to face the ceiling and takes a few deep, refreshing breaths she's just now denied.

She doesn't have much recollection of anything before her meeting with Lopmon, but she does know her brother and the two other Tamers, Takato and Ruki, began fighting wild Digimon around this time. Hypnos too should be observing the Digimon.

She can't let things end the same way it did last time. She doesn't want to lose Lopmon again. That is, if she even mee-No, bad thought! They'll see each other again, for sure.

She sighs.

Even if she wants to change the timeline, how could she? She wasn't part of the Taming business until she and Lopmon became partners. Unless…

She sits up, putting a hand on her chin like how characters do in cliché anime. In her defense, they look cool in this position.

"I have to get invowved with eithew the Tamews ow Hypnos."

Hypnos is out of the question. That Yamaki guy won't allow a 7-year-old in a secret government facility. Then that leaves the Tamers. Jen-niichan then. Oh wait, no. She can't share a space with him too long or she'll break down again. Then that means it's either Takato or Ruki.

This is easy. She's known Ruki for years, even considered her as a sister figure. Ruki it is! As far as she knows, Ruki didn't join her brother until a bit later, so she doesn't have to worry about meeting him when she's with her... for now.

Okay, so, after 5 minutes of brainstorming, she's got the rough plan.

First, make a connection with Ruki. Second, convince her to include Shiuchon in her Digimon hunt. Third… just follow her lead she guesses…

No, no. Wait a second. How again would this change the timeline? Even if she does as the plan goes, this wouldn't affect anything.

Arg, thinking is hard! This was why she chose to be a baker for the other half of her income, the other being a writer(she's a masochist, she just realizes).

She scrunches up her nose. Bah! To hell with it.

She'll just ad-lib along the way. Whatever she does now will be insignificant anyway until Hypnos comes into the picture. But forming an earlier connection with the others could be an edge, so she'll do just that.

The room's quiet and, again, the only noise is coming from the street below. The ceiling stares at her, to which Shiuchon stares back. She doesn't see the white surface though. All she sees is a brown and pink bunny smiling at her.

"Wopmon, we'ww see othew again. Wait fow me, okay?"

She reaches up her hand to touch the imaginary figure.

* * *

[Omake]

The room's quiet and, again, the only noise is coming from the street below. The ceiling stares at her, to which Shiuchon stares back. She doesn't see the white surface though. All she sees is a brown and pink bunny smiling at her.

"Wopmon, we'ww see othew again. Wait fow me, okay?"

She reaches up her hand to touch the imaginary figure.

But before then, there's something she needs to do first. In a voice just above whisper, she begins reciting all the Kana letters starting from the Ta(た)-row. Slur, begone!

"Ta, chi, tsu, te..."

And she repeats that till mom comes in and find her a mess of a girl trying to speak but it all comes out as nonsense because she keeps trying to pronounce the following letter in a word according to its row.

* * *

**Writing Shiuchon from now on is gonna be hard. I don't curse in real life, so I kinda hesitates trying to write those curses down, believe it or not XD. **


	3. A Chance for a Change

"Achoo!" Shiuchon sneezes. There's no snot so she just wipes her nose with her hand and then she goes back to writing, yawning as she does so. It always becomes colder whenever she stays up too long.

The pillow lying behind her tries to tempt her to sleep, but the yearning and sorrow for more than 2 decades of being separated from her partner weighs down upon her heavier than any wink of sleep can relieve.

So she writes, filling her notebook with whatever D-Reaper article she memorized in the past-future. From the beginning of the Digimon's appearance until the defeat of D-Reaper, to her personal recollection of that time. Trails of scrawls litter every page her hand touches from years worth of muscle memory missing.

Time's of no importance. While she doesn't know how long she's been sitting cross-legged and writing on the bed, trying hard to keep from nodding off, it's long enough for the moon to move somewhere on the night sky she can't see. It's also long enough for her alarm clock to ring and almost land her in the hospital again via heart attack.

"Good gwief." Removing her hand from her throbbing chest, she walks on her knees to grab the damned thing by the headboard and slams it quiet. She slumps and finally gives in to the tiredness, plopping her body on the pillow. Her stubbornness proves strong enough to fight the lull of sleep.

She strains her arm's muscle to reach for the notebook in the middle of the bed and picks it up, raising it toward the ceiling to read.

Shiuchon leafs through her 5 hours worth of effort, barely registering a word as her eyelids flutter at every sentence her eyes land on.

It's only a rough outline, incomplete at that, but this will at least keep her from messing things up in her attempt to change the future.

While it would help to let the events flow as they originally did to keep surprises away, these events will ultimately lead to her and Lopmon being separated. That she can't allow. She has to find a way to change the flow a bit so it would have as few surprises as possible but in the end still let the Digimon stay. A way that can alter the future but not too significantly until the very end.

Right now, for better or worse, none of her actions are going to leave any big impact until she joins the Tamers. She intends to meet Ruki soon, prefebly these weekends. With the right excuse, she can sneak out to the other side of the town where the older girl lives. After that, she can-

Darkness flashes over her eyes for a second but with her hands failing her, the notebook she's holding drops, the particularly hard spine hitting her on the nose just at the right angle, thus waking her up completely. Shiuchon rubs her pained nose and grumbles. The notebook slides down her cheek onto the bed, unaware of the pain it brought her.

Then her stomach growls.

Great. When she didn't want to sleep, she was sleepy. Now that she's dying for it, her body says "breakfast!"

"Ugh…" Just what is wrong with this body? "...wonder what we have in the kitchen."

* * *

Sounds of metal spoon against glass echoes in the dark. A figure sits alone at the dinner table, occasionally yawning as it eats in peace.

Terriermon bates his breath, for once grateful he's small enough to fit inside the shelf. He's not gifted with night vision but he can make out the outline of that small body. Even without the pigtails, he recognizes it anywhere.

Shiuchon's only a few meters away from him. The only things hiding him from view are the stacks of boxes on the shelf, cereals and flour and all that, and the fact that he's high up. He watches her shoving bites after bites of food into her mouth.

Terriermon has thought of Shiuchon as graceless before, but this is on a whole new level. He knows she didn't eat dinner yesterday, but damn, she could join an eating competition and he'd bet on her. But why now of all times for her to get hungry? He just wanted to sneak out a few snacks but now he's stuck!

Terriermon puts enough restraint on himself to not sigh but not enough to not cross his arms. In what he'll have to list down as one of his dumbest moments, he accidentally knocks down several cereal boxes. Time slows down as it heads for the floor. Oh well, his bad, but this should spook her enough to leave.

As they hit the ground, Terriermon waits for the impending scream, gasp, anything. What he doesn't expect is Shiuchon standing on her seat and looking up at him. Can she see him?! No, no, she shouldn't. It's too dark--which begs the question why she doesn't turn on the light in the-

"Tewwiewmon?"

Terriermon's never been the victim of any electric Digimon attack before, but if he ever does, this shock running through his body is probably what it feels like.

"Tewwiewmon, I know you'we thewe."

Crap, crap, crap, crap! Did she figure it out already? Last time he checked she wasn't smart enough to count numbers times 2.

"Tewwiewmon?"

He can't move. Every muscle in his body refuses his command, not that he wants to move anyway. Even if he can, there's no escape.

"I guess you'we not tawking." Shiuchon sighs down below. She sits back down and slumps into the chair. "Go. I'm not wooking."

When Shiuchon covers her eyes, Terriermon doesn't wait. He regains control over his body and jumps onto the floor, not caring that he also knocks a few other boxes down with him. He runs.

Jen's not gonna like this.

* * *

Shiuchon sighs with her face in her palms. The chair's curvy back allows her to lean back as much as possible into her less than pleasant childhood memory.

"So Tewwiemon is already here." She lowers her hands to her sides, clutching at the empty air as she tries to control her breathing.

She already expected to meet Terriermon again after reading a line of "Jen-niichan's new stuffed toy" in her old diary, but seeing him in person almost breaks her again. She breathes another sigh. Is she gonna have to go through this every time she re-meets each of her family members?

A swing of the door startles her and she turns to her left, the light flicking on to reveal a face she barely thought about in her future-past, a face she only remembered because of blood ties, staring back at her with half-lidded eyes.

A younger Jaarin-neechan stands by the entrance, hair sticking in so many places as if lightning struck it. Her sister rubs her eyes as she looks at Shiuchon up and down.

"Shiuchon? What are you doing up-Hey is that my cereal?!"

Whatever trace of sleep in Jaarin-neechan's eyes disappears as the older girl stomps up to her and rips the bowl from Shiuchon's hand, leaving her with only the spoon.

"It is!" Her sister turns after inspecting it to look at her with eyes that promise only pain. Yup, this is Jaarin-neechan, alright. Fiery, hot-tempered when provoked, one of the role models she had growing up… which isn't something to be proud of considering how she turned out.

While this wasn't what she had in mind for her reunion with the other family members, nor did she plan it to be this soon, Shiuchon appreciates the non-angsty route this is taking. Though she'd prefer if she isn't glared at like a criminal.

Shiuchon puts on her best, embarrassed grin while trying to placate the burning monster of a sister in front of her.

"I was hungwy?" Shiuchon offers. She wanted to make congee but her fatigue and current size convinced her to have a simple meal instead… and she forgot who it belongs to.

Shiuchon internally grimaces as Jaarin-neechan begins to shout. Oh, please not let the others hear. If the rest of the family barge in too she won't be able to handle it.

"Tch. You know how much a box of this costs! And the boxes are always so small. You better pay this back later or I'll-" Her sister suddenly stops yelling to the world. Thank god!

Shiuchon jumps when her sister puts the bowl oh not-so-gently on the wooden table enough to shake it! Maybe heart attack will really kill her this time around…

She eyes the undamaged glass bowl, its contents wiggling and dancing about. Such fine craftsmanship to be able to endure her sister's ire.

"You know what? Eat it. I don't care." A noticeable amount of sharpness is missing from her words and glare. "But next time, ask first."

Shiuchon blinks.

"Okay?"

Her sister heads the fridge without replying, sidestepping the boxes Terriermon dropped earlier in her way as she does so. When she passes by Shiuchon again with a glass of milk, she turns her head away.

Is she... sulking? If Shiuchon could sweatdrop, she would. She did time travel, right, instead of being transported to a comedy universe?

"Pick up that mess you made." Her sister points at the boxes. "And go to sleep. I'll tell mom you're still sick." And with that, she leaves, her finger almost flicking off the light before she remembers there's someone else in the kitchen. Her figure disappears in the dark hallway.

Well, that sure was something.

"Go to sweep?" Is it that obvious?

Shiuchon lifts the metal spoon to look at her distorted reflection which confirms it.

Welp, not even a teenager and she already has eyebags, as faint as they are. Red lines both her eyes like tree roots trying to reach her magenta pupil. She can't really see it in the distorted spoon reflection but feeling through her hair she knows she too has a bad case of bed hair. All in all, she looks awful.

Oh well, the hair she can fix and as for sleep, she can do it at school later.

She eyes around and keeps her ears sharp just in case somebody else decides they want to have more morning drama with her.

Terriermon should have told Jen-niichan about her by now. Seeing nobody, she slings the schoolbag on the chair beside her over her shoulder. She puts her half-finished cereal in the fridge. Because she's short, she leaves the fallen boxes on the table.

It's family evading time, day 2.

* * *

Mori Tadaaki slides through the hallway, students' chattering echoing left and right of him. The textbooks he's carrying get heavier the more he walks.

When his head leans roo much to the left, the long ruler between his armpit hits his cheek, which is the only reason he hasn't fallen asleep on the floor.

Sometimes masochism is the only way to keep you going in life, or in this case, school.

"I'm late!" A boy in a blue shirt runs past him.

Tadaaki sighs. "No running in the hallway, please!" He shouts at the boy but otherwise does nothing. The boy keeps running anyway. Kids.

Tadaaki puts a hand on his mouth to cover yet another yawn.

"Thursdays." Another two days of torture and he'll have his well-deserved weekends. So close yet so far. "You can do this, Tadaaki. You've been doing this for years."

Still, the class he's going to isn't even his class.

"What is it again? 2-2?" A class full of rambunctious 7-year-olds that have yet to use up their youth energy. This is why he loves teaching 5th graders. They're less likely to convince him to commit seppuku… Alright maybe something less severe. He loves his life, thanks.

Stopping in front of a pair of doors, Tadaaki makes sure that the sign says "2-2".

His homeroom has science class right now with another teacher. That class was supposed to be after this period but he and the teacher agreed to switch.

He already planned to spend the free period on his well deserved nap. He'd be doing exactly that right now if his mouth didn't go on saying "yes" to a colleague's request.

Said colleague is taking a sick day and being a good friend he was yesterday, he agreed to substitute for him this morning. He doesn't feel like a good friend right now.

He sighs. "Let's get this over with."

Tadaaki slides the door all the way through and steps inside to see the students crowding around a desk in the back. It's just morning and they're already causing a ruckus. Oh, his faint heart.

"Um, hello. I'm Mori-sensei. Matsuzaka-sensei is sick so I'm substituting for him. Can everyone get to their seat?"

No, of course not, as evident from a girl among the crowd shouting at him. "But, sensei! Lee's sitting on mine!" She points at her desk.

Laying their head on said desk is another girl with magenta hair, fast asleep.

"Wake her up, then." Tadaaki walks up to the teacher's desk in front and relieves all of the extra weight of his teaching materials off of him. The other students are already at their seat, ready for class.

"But she's not waking up!" The girl says while prodding her classmate with the back of a pencil. "Hey, get off my seat, Lee. Lee, can you hear me? Lee!" She's about to cup her hand near her classmate's ear when Tadaaki has had enough of it.

"Silence!" Tadaaki slams his hand on his desk. It hurts but it gets the point across. The other students all look away, afraid to catch his attention. "Lee-san's seat is empty, right? Go sit there."

"Y-yes!" The girl scampers with her bag to an empty seat at the front. Tadaaki frowns. He doesn't like being all scary-like. There's no satisfaction in teaching students who are only afraid of him. He puts the frown away to replace it with a smile.

"Like I said, Matsuzaka-sensei can't come today. I'll be teaching in his place for this period. Let's start with the attendance. When I call your name, raise your hand, alright?"

He starts calling from the attendance list and learns that the sleeping girl's name is Lee Shiuchon. Normal Kanji, irregular reading, Lee surname. He remembers hearing Jenrya-kun from his class talking about his sister. Must be her then.

Tadaaki lets Lee have her beauty sleep while the class goes on. Her friends can tell her later what she's missing. It's not like she has a lot to catch up to since it's only the start of the school year. His only concern is she won't catch up and hurt her grades if she keeps this behavior up.

Hundreds of questions and endless scraping of chalks against the blackboard later, the class still hasn't ended. The clock ticks too slowly for Tadaaki's liking, but thankfully, there are only 10 minutes left between him and the inter-period rest, as short as it will be. After that he'll be teaching homeroom, class 5-1, for the whole day. Tadaaki resigns to his fate.

"Ngh." Lee groans, catching his attention. She's finally waking up.

Tadaaki's ready to lecture her on sleeping in his class when he sees water dropping onto her desk. No, that's no water. It's tears. Her eyes, previously hidden by the bang of her messy hair, fall upon him when she lifts her face, allowing him to see how red they are. They go wide once she realizes who she's looking at.

"Hey, Lee. Are you okay?" a boy asks.

"Crap, she's crying!" someone else says.

"What?"

Everyone starts to become a reporter and chatters gradually fill the classroom. Tadaaki's timid voice does nothing to get their attention. It's not until he hurts his palm again that the class quiets down. He takes a deep breath to calm himself.

"Lee-san, if you're not feeling alright, you can go to the infirmary," he says once everyone stops talking.

"Eh, no no no! I'm fine. I just had a bad dweam is aww." She waves her hands as if she can blow away his worries just like that. Usually he would believe whatever his students tell him but that forced smile isn't fooling anyone. "I'm so sowwy I swept in your cwass. I pwomise I won't do it again."

She quickly bows to apologize but seems to forget the desk in front of her. The result: a red forehead to go with her bloodshot eyes. She mutters something while rubbing the spot.

He tries again to persuade her to go to the infirmary or maybe take a sick leave but she insists. She sits at the desk that isn't even hers with determined, if red, eyes, maths book and stationaries at the ready.

Tadaaki doesn't push it. She's not his student. Matsuzaka can deal with her… Well, maybe he can talk with Jenrya-kun later about this. He resumes whatever time the class has left and asks someone to write the textbook exercises on the board.

Not even two minutes since Lee joined among the conscious, her eyelids start to flutter. She nods off a few times but tries to fight it. Did she even sleep last night?

Once the student finishes writing and goes returns to his seat, Tadaaki points at the maths question with his ruler.

"Alright everyone. You're all bright students here so these problems," he taps the board using his ruler. "should be easy for you. Now, who wants to go first?"

Some students raise their hand. One by one they come to the front and solve the problems. They're actually really easy. Just plus and minus.

There's about 5 minutes left before class is over by the last one. Tadaaki looks for the last victim of the exercise. Nobody wants to raise their hand however and are looking at either the clock or their watch instead. He can't blame them.

A boy in the back snickers. "Hey, Lee. Why don't you answer that?" He leans and taps on her table.

Lee who's again lost in dreamland jolts awake, looking around her frantically. The class laugh while she regains her bearing. Tadaaki shakes his head. Kids.

"Um, do I answer that?" Lee asks, looking at him with those tired eyes. He'd be amused by how she swallows down her yawn if she isn't so pitiful to look at.

Tadaaki shrugs. "If you want to."

Lee hesitates a bit, looking around her embarrassed, but eventually braves to the front. She picks up the chalk to write the answer. The chalk stops and hovers over the board, her facial expression changes as she racks her brain to find the correct solution. The problem is 26 - 6 3. Shouldn't be too hard.

She writes 0.

Tadaaki refrains from sighing.

It's fine. It's fine. Some kids learn slower than others. The rest of the class meanwhile roar in laughter and call her names and typical childish stuff.

Lee only stands there biting her lip, stiff and conflicted. He should save her the embarrassment.

"Lee-san, you can go bac-"

But Lee continues writing, eyes narrowed and focused. The space below isn't enough so she draws an arrow and continues the answer beside it. The forceful impact of the chalk against the board is loud enough to drown away the laughter, washing them away as the whole class begin to stare in confusion.

All in all the answer is not what he expected… not because it's wrong, which it is technically, but because of its level.

It goes:

2b - b 3 = 0

2b - b = -3

b = -3

Algebra. It's definitely algebra. But where did she get that b from? Scanning the board over he realizes that the number 6 is written like b.

"Is… it wrong, sensei?" Lee looks down at her feet, tiredness leaking into her voice.

"No. Not at all…" Tadaaki scratches his head.

When the bell finally rings, no student is cheering for the free period they waited so long for. He doesn't either.

"Sensei, how can that be correct?" Some students ask.

"Yeah. Why is it so long?"

"I think I saw something like that in my older sister's homework."

"Eh, really?"

The students start chattering again but Tadaaki ignores them and instead looks at the answer again up and down. No doubt about it. That's 6th grade maths, isn't it?

This is interesting.

It's still early in the year but his class will be in 6th grade next year so maybe he can look at that grade's syllabus a little.

When he pulls himself out of his thought and turns to Lee, she's already nodding off again… while standing.

"Come. I'll take you to the infirmary." He bends a bit and offers a hand. If the girl isn't going to take care of herself, he will force her to. She doesn't refuse this time, grabbing it with both of hers. Even her grip has about the same energy of her whispered thanks.

He turns to the class. "I'm taking your classmate to the nurse. Your other substitute teacher will come soon. She's better at maths than me. If you have any question, ask her."

The class bows as they walk out.

On the way to the infirmary, Tadaaki can't help but stare at the girl beside him in a mix of concern and wonder. He makes sure to not misstep with her short height imbalancing him.

"This body sucks," she mutters in between yawns.

Tadaaki doesn't know what to comment.

* * *

_Matsuzaka-sensei stared at her and the paper in his hand back and forth. The following sigh was expected like how one would expect the sky to be blue. It was a fact of life._

_"Shiuchon-kun, your grades aren't improving."_

_The excited, background chattering inside the teacher's lounge contrasted with her indiference expression._

_"So?"_

_Matsuzaka-sensei groaned and violently ruffled his hair, the usually neat bundle of black on his head now a birdnest._

_"You can't do this to yourself! You're 12. Your results may not affect you to get into Junior High but if you keep this up, no High School will accept you._"

_Shiuchon stayed silent._

_"Why are you sabotaging your future? Shiuchon-kun, please..."_

_Shiuchon averted her gaze, whatever tiny amount of guilt in her not allowing her to look at him in the eyes._

_"I'm not smart like my siblings. It's not like I have a future in the first place anyway."_

* * *

_Mom and dad smiled after she told them her exam result over dinner. Mom's was genuine as ever, but dad's forced smile could fool nobody. Jen-niichan, the only one to not move out yet, kept his words to himself as he ate another piece of manju._

_"You tried your best, didn't you?" mom asked, adding unnecessary amount of rice in Shiuchon's bowl_.

_"Mm." She accepts the bowl_.

_"So, junior high is over," Dad started. He looked rather like a living mannequin, blank and emotionless, tired of life. He tried to keep that shaky smile on his lips. "What highschool do you have in mind?"_

_Pausing mid-bite, Shiuchon thought her words over._

_"I'm not going," she said after swallowing the food and putting the bowl down._

_"What?" Jen-niichan drops the manju piece in his mouth, the one he was about to reach for on the table untouched as his arm froze. When it got enough heat from the airborne tension to unfreeze, he turned to grab her hands and looked at her in the eyes. "Why?"_

_Shiuchon shifted her gaze to look at the mountain of rice before her._

_"What's the point of going? I'll only be a disappointment and a waste of money."_

_"But, Shiuchon! This is your futu-"_

_"I have no future!"_

_Shiuchon swatted his hands away. "Now if you'll excuse me."_

_She stood up to leave for her room, pretending she didn't hear mom sobbing behind her._

* * *

_"I got accepted! Just you wait, Keio, cause here I come!"_

_"Whoa! Congrats, dude."_

_"C'mon. We're partying tonight!"_

_Shiuchon heard the highschool kids celebrating as she passed by them. Quite a cheerful bunch._

_"Why the long face, Shiu?" Makoto asked besides her, his hands full of grocery that should last her for a week._

_She bit her lip.__"Say, have you ever regretted your life decisions, like if you could do something differently, would you? Turn back time and fix your mistakes?"_

_"Huh? What kind of question is that?"_

_She shrugged. "A philosophical one."_

_"Well, I guess I have. But in the end, what's done is done. I'll live with my choices and strive to do better. By the way, how old are you again?"_

_She rolled her eyes. "25, just 3 years older than you."_

_"Then act like it! You could pass as an 80-year-old with that face. And you're making me feel as old as you!"_

_Shiuchon whacked him on the head._

* * *

There exists a realm between consciousness and deep sleep, the place of a pleasure that can't be found anywhere else, the pleasure she craves so much for as she stretches on the bed, hugging the impossibly soft pillow in her arms. "Ngh."

Ah, how nice.

"-nything too bad," a voice says.

Huh? Shiuchon's eyelids flutter open seeing only blurs and lines.

"She'll be fine. The nurse said she just needs to rest a little." Another voice but older. "Oh, she's waking up."

"Thank goodness. Shiuchon, I was worried!" A hand grabs hers. When her vision clears, Shiuchon sees exactly who the voice belongs to.

"J-Jen-niichan…"

It's him again. Last time she met him it was only for a minute before she went back unconscious after Mom comforted her. His grip is tight, as if not wanting her to escape. His ever-calm gray eyes pin her from looking anywhere else.

"Your brother was surprised when I told him I brought you here. Stay at home next time you're sick will you?"

Shiuchon manages to break contact with her brother to look at the man, the teacher from earlier, sitting next to him.

"**What were you thinking going without telling anyone at 5?**" Jen-niichan gently tugs her hand to get her attention, Chinese flowing out of his mouth to keep the conversation private.

Shiuchon doesn't look straight at him this time and finds the blanket between her fingers to be more interesting. "**I weft a note,**" she mumbles.

"**And we found it only a few hours after you left! We almost called the police.**" He keeps his voice whisper-level but tightens his grip to emphasize his point. "**Everyone was worried about you.**" His grip loosens as his voice grows quieter.

Great going. She just wanted some time alone from them, not worry them further. But it's kind of obvious in hindsight this will happen.

"**I'm sowwy.**"

Jen-niichan sighs.

"**You're not hurt anywhere, right?**"

Shiuchon rubs her forehead. There doesn't seem to be any bruise. She shakes her head no.

"**Then sowwy accepted.**" He taps her hand. She can hear the smile in his voice. It's only by pure willpower and the strength the blanket she's clutching that she manages to hold herself from jumping into his arms, to never leave his side ever again, her sibling she used to be the closest to. If he or the man notice tears pooling in her eyes, they don't comment.

"I'm sorry about that, sensei." Her brother says to the man beside him.

"Ah, no. I understand. Family matters, right?" She sees him look at her from the edge of her slightly blurred vision.

"Your brother may have asked but how do you feel, Shiuchon-kun? I hope you're fine with me calling you that. It'd be confusing to call you with your family name."

Shiuchon shakes her head. "Shiuchon's fine," she gathers enough courage to look up. She sees Jen-niichan's face first. She already saw it earlier but looking at it again, he looks very young. Younger than she ever remembered.

She didn't get to see his face, nor anybody else's, when she--She swallowed--when she died. It's comforting to know this time around she'll be able to actually see him grow up alongside her. So many years she spent away from him makes him feel like a stranger now.

She decides she's been staring long enough and turns to the other person in the room. Mori-sensei was it?

"Um, what time is it?"

"About 5. You slept the whole day."

7 hours then. Shiuchon's not surprised it's that long considering her age. She's at the age where her body is very demanding. So much so she can't stay up if she doesn't want to end up in this place again.

"If I may," Mori-sensei pulls out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and holds it in front of her. She looks between him and the paper before taking it. Written on the paper is a maths equation. Looks like a quadratic or linear equation but her maths isn't that good so who knows.

She blinks at him hoping her confusion gets across.

"You wrote that answer."

For a while, nothing seems wrong with that sentence… until the whole events of this morning comes back to her full force. Her eyes go wide.

She did remember earlier but dismissed it as part of her dream where she was back in junior high, the class taunting and looking down on her. In her dreamy state, she wrote the answer that was supposed to prove them wrong… in a class full of 7-year-olds.

"...yes."

"Granted, that isn't how you're supposed to do quadratic equations but you're smart for your age."

She's technically 27. Of course she's smarter than average 7-year-olds. Oh, where's that desk? She wants to bang her head on it. On the outside though she's doing nothing more than a nod.

"It's a pity though," he says, crossing his arms.

Pity. She heard that word countless times in her future-past. There was only one thing to expect when it came up. That she was wasting her full potential. That she could have done better.

"Japanese education doesn't allow children to skip grades." Mori-sensei blows a puff of air. He looks like he wants to have a word or two with the education ministry. "If you were born somewhere else, your potential wouldn't be wasted like in here."

She almost flinches hearing that. If only he knew.

"Say, Shiuchon. Where did you learn algebra?" Jen-niichan holds his chin as he studies her, curiosity in his vast, grey eyes.

It's a bit uncomfortable having her brother look at her so intently. She barely meets his gaze before finding something more interesting to look at, like the protrusion on the blanket where her feet are and the random white envelope beside them. Somebody must have forgotten it.

Shiuchon thinks of how to answer. Her feet moves toward and away from each other like car wipers, the blanket creasing and pooling in the space between them.

"Winchei-niichan showed me," she decides. It's technically the truth. Her younger self pestered him into showing her his homework and she got her first look at what would be her nightmare at junior high.

"Then why did your math tests always come back with low marks if you're can solve advanced questions?"

"Um…" Oh boy.

The ticking clock on the wall catches her attention. While she has a hard time reading it, too used to digital clocks, she knows the longer she stays here the longer this interrogation will be.

"Can we go home now? I'm hungwy." She's not eager to meet her potentially very worried family but it's better than being questioned non-stop here.

That seems to be the right question because Jen-niichan quickly agrees.

"Oh right. You haven't eaten. We'll be taking our leave then, sensei."

Mori-sensei holds out his hand before Jen-niichan can stand up. "Before that, can you give this letter to your parents?" He says and picks up the envelope by her feet. So it's a letter for her.

She absentmindedly notes that he's giving it directly to her when he could have given it to her brother earlier.

Shiuchon takes the letter which reads "to Mr. and Mrs. Lee" on one side. On the other is "concerning your daughter, Shiuchon". Not even a day in the past and she's already changing it by getting people's attention. Please be a good change...

Mori-sensei rubs his shoulder.

"I wasn't sure about this at first but," he starts. She didn't notice it before but he's quite a shy man. "I have a friend. He works with children like you. Bright children. We'll need to test you first of course but if you and your parents agree, he can arrange a study program for you abroad."

...wha?

He takes the silence from both her and her brother as a sign to continue.

"I've seen enough students, students capable of going far in life, stuck among same-age peers and having to bear with materials that are far below their level, all because of the system in this country. You have a bright future, Shiuchon-kun. I don't want you to waste that." Mori-sensei smiles at her.

Shiuchon never considered herself smart. Maybe creative, but not smart. Years of constant bad grades blew out any flame of confidence she had in her own intellect. And now here this man stands, well sits, before her, telling her the opposite, that she can do better.

With her future knowledge she can easily pass whatever test they have for her. She can undo every mistake she made in the past.

She can finally make her family proud...

For a fleeting second, the 27-year-old in her is gone, replaced by a giddy 7-year-old she currently is. But the feeling fades away when reality sinks in.

She can't leave yet. Not too soon. Lopmon is waiting for her. The danger of the D-Reaper lurks around the corner. If she's not here, she risks repeating the bleak future she sorely doesn't want to return to. But most importantly, if she agrees to this, she'll be leaving her family… again. She can't do that.

"I'ww… I'ww think about it."

Shiuchon hugs the letter to her chest, torn in the situation she brought upon herself.

She and her brother say their goodbye and bow to the man. Because Jen-niichan insists on carrying her bag, Shiuchon walks out with just the envelope. It feels heavy in her hand, both physically and figuratively.

She's too distracted to notice someone coming her way outside the door.

"Ah!"

"Shiuchon!"

When she realizes, she's already lying on the floor, hand reaching her stinging elbow. The boy that barreled into her is in no better shape. He's tending to his head and winces at the obvious pain.

"Shiuchon, are you alright? Does it hurt anywhere?" Jen-niichan pulls her hand to lift her up. She shows him her elbow. Doesn't seem to be any scratch. The pain is already going away. The other boy on the other hand...

"Careful," Mori-sensei who came out hearing the commotion bends down to him. "Does it hurt if I press here?" He proceeds to put his index and middle finger on the boy's head where he hit them.

"Not really," the boy says after some consideration.

"Good then. Now, what were you doing running in the hallway? Come to think of it, weren't you the one that ran in the hallway this morning too?"

"Ah, that… that..." While the boy nervously waves his hand around and futilely tries to find a good excuse, Shiuchon studies his face. He looks familiar. Red eyes, red eyes. Who again that she knows has red eyes?

After getting scolded, the boy bows and apologizes to Shiuchon.

Jen-niichan sighs at him. "Please be careful next time."

"I will! I'm sorry!" He bows again. He's definitely sincere but it's just funny how serious he is about it. He hears her chuckle and chuckles along, scratching his cheek before realizing something.

"Oh, gotta go. Bye! Sorry again!" The boy waves and leaves, his lesson unlearned as he's back to sprinting through the hallway again. Mori-sensei shakes his head.

Shiuchon feels like her hand is empty for a second as she stares at it. Right, the letter? Where is it?

Something white on the wooden floor catches her sight. It's not the letter though. It's a pocket notebook, its cover and a few pages flipped over. The opened page has a cute drawing of some kind of animal.

She picks it up. "Guiw…" she doesn't need to finish the name written beside the drawing to know what it is. Or rather, who; Guilmon, which means...

Shiuchon looks at the direction the boy ran.

"Takato?" He looks so different.

"Here, you dropped it." Jen-niichan holds out the letter to her. Shiuchon takes it but goes back to the notebook in her hand and frowns. The nagging feeling at the back of her mind is telling her she's forgetting something. Flipping all the way to the cover she finds Takato's name and class.

"Is that the boy's?" Her brother points at the notebook. "That class is next to mine. I can give it to him tomorrow."

Shiuchon thinks it over. Her plan is to have only Ruki join her, but adding another someone else that isn't her brother can't hurt her chance. Whatever it takes to change the future. "Can I do it mysewf?"

"Why?" Jen-niichan looks at her funny..

Shiuchon shrugs. "I want to make fwiends."

On their way home, Jen-niichan mentions something she that didn't cross her mind with everything that happened today.

"So… You know about Terriermon?"

She doesn't even have to pretend to be sleepy to avoid answering.

"I heard from mom about your nightmare. Don't worry, Terriermon isn't a ghost or anything. He won't hurt you. He actually wanted to come and tell you himself but I told him it wasn't a good idea."

So he thinks she got a nightmare and couldn't sleep because of Terriermon?

Looks like she doesn't have to explain anything after all.

* * *

The moment the door swings open, her family crowds her, mom hugging her and Jaarin-neechan knuckling her on the head.

"I'm sowwy."

"It's fine," dad says. This is the first time she sees him face to face in this timeline. His face is still full of life, unlike what the years of her rebellious streak did to him. "But next time, please don't go out by yourself. It's dangerous."

Shiuchon can only nod. She won't be able to keep that promise.

Mom gives Shiuchon a piece of her own. Then Jaarin-neechan gives her another barrage of nuggie. Rinchei-niichan leaves her be but does ask if she's hurt anywhere to which she replies no.

When her family determine she's sworn on enough promises she's not sure she can even keep, they stop pestering her. Shiuchon surprisingly hasn't broken down yet through it all.

"Shiuchon. The letter," Jen-niichan reminds her.

Oh yeah. Shiuchon hands mom the letter from Mori-sensei. "It's from Mowi-sensei."

"Mori-sensei. Isn't that your teacher, Jenrya?"

Her brother nods. "He taught Shiuchon's class this morning. He thinks Shiuchon is a child genius."

Both Jaarin-neechan and and Rinchei-niichan look at her dubious. The "how???" is left unsaid

Mom and dad though are mostly surprised, especially when they read the content. Whatever written there has them smile, in what she can only describe as pride.

A tear finally pricks in her eye.

"This is great, Shiuchon!" Dad flashes her a warm smile. She feels like that smile can even warm her up in winter. Before he can go on any further, Shiuchon's stomach complains about how empty it is.

"Okay, come on. That's enough. Go wash up, you two. Dinner in a few minutes," mom says. Jaarin-neechan takes the chance to read the letter, Rinchei-niichan's head over her shoulder.

"Wow. They're not kidding," Rinchei-niichan sniffs in amusement. Jaarin-neechan doesn't look as convinced and continues to stare at Shiuchon as if her face holds the answer she wants.

Jen-niichan, probably sensing her distress, takes her hand and leads her away.

"You're scaring her, sis," Jen-niichan looks at her over his shoulder, chuckling.

"I am?" Jaarin-neechan looks concerned.

Rinchei-niichan chuckles, oblivious. "Yeah. Remember the monster who woke me up this morning? I can't go back to sleep you know after seeing your face. You're too scary" he teases. Jaarin-neechan, no longer concerned about Shiuchon fumes. Sensing danger, he quickly runs away while laughing.

"Come here, you!"

Mom and dad sighs watching the two chase each other. Rinchei-niichan somehow finds a dead cockroach under the couch and uses it to scare Jaarin-neechan.

"Ew, ew, ew! Get that thing away!" she screeches.

"Ahaha! Not gonna happen."

It's funny since they're already 17 and 15.

When Shiuchon and Jen-niichan are far enough, he stops to look at her. "Do you want to meet Terriermon first? He really wants to talk to you."

Shuchon shakes her head. "I want to cleaw my head fiwst. Then I want to eat and go sweep. I can see him tomowwow. And... about what happened at schoow, thanks fow not tewwing mom and dad." She smiles at him.

Jen-niichan ruffles her head. "You're welcome. But don't go around telling everyone about Terriermon either."

"I won't. I pwomise."

And just like that, the rift she made between them shrinks. But they're still strangers, even if it's only her feeling that way. But she'll close the gap for sure. After that, they can be brother and sister again.

* * *

Matsuda Takato dumps his bag's contents.

"Where is it, where is it?" he searches through the pile of books and stationaries. His notebook vanished into thin air while he wasn't looking.and now he can't find it! His shoulder slumps in defeat after a few times going through the pile.

The Digivice on his desk sits silently in the dark.

Somehow, magic maybe, his card reader turned into the red and white Digivice after he he scanned that Blue Card.

Talk about magic, the Blue Card disappeared too. He didn't get to show it off to Hirokazu and Kenta. Ugh.

But a more concerning issue is his missing notebook. He can't scan his Guilmon drawing without the notebook. He wants to see if he can bring Guilmon to life by scanning it. It's a ridiculous idea but why not? His card reader did tranform into the Digivice.

"Oh well." He gives up.

He can draw another Guilmon later. Better go to bath now or mom will be mad at him. He's gotten enough scolding for today.

* * *

It's not dark but it may as well be. Lines and circles, shapes of every kind in every color, they fill this void of nothingness where nothing exists except him. Grid lines spread out endlessly and no matter how far he goes they lines remain the same.

He doesn't feel hungry. He never feels thirsty. His nails haven't grown.

He played with Time. Now he's paying the consequence. Him, sitting all alone in this vast, empty void. No Clockmon, no mom, no dad. Alone.

"I'm sorry, auntie."

He sobs, but there's no one to comfort him. Not anymore. Not yet. Never.

* * *

[Omake]

Jaarin's alarm wakes her up at exactly 5am. Sleep hasn't come out of her system yet, so she sways along the hallway, heading for the kitchen. She may have hit the wall a few times as well.

Since it's dark, she can barely see anything. Her ears do catch something though; tiny footsteps coming in her direction.

She can do without whatever little amount of light the hallway has to offer, nuh-uh, because what she sees is not something she'll forget anytime soon.

A small figure with long hands and no head skirts past her and into the abyss of the hallway. Her room is that way too...

Rinchei-nii wouldn't mind if she bunks up in his room, wouldn't he? At least until the sun goes up.

A door from somewhere behind her shuts with a loud click. That's enough motivation to RUN!

She stops at the door to the dining room that doubles as a kitchen, deeming it the safest place in this house. When she swings the door open, she almost jumps at seeing someone else besides her. Her eyes are still not fully awake but a closer look gives a relatively clearer view of a familiar figure.

She flicks the light on. Yes, it's definitely her sister.

"Shiuchon? What are you doing up-" her words get stuck in her throat, unable to come out when she realizes just what the girl is eating. "Hey is that my cereal?!"

She sees red, ghost forgotten.

* * *

**Sorry for the late update. A reader even messaged asking me if I already stopped writing. No, I'm still continuing it. Don't worry.**

**This chapter is set in the first half of episode 1. Not much change from the episode except for Guilmon's creation. If you're wondering what'll happen to him, w****ait to find out.**

**If you don't remember, Tadaaki is the teacher who has a crush on Takato's teacher. He didn't appear a lot in the anime. His name is written as Toshiaki in a wiki, but a Japanese site wrote his name as Tadaaki instead, so I'm going with that.**

**As for the last scene before the omake, well. That character already appeared in the first chapter. That's all I can say without spoiling anything.**

**About the grade skipping part. It's true. You can't skip grades in Japan. About cereals being more expensive and in smaller boxes, also true. Sad cereal-fan noises.**

**I know this chapter is lot longer than the previous two. I'll try to keep the lenght consistent after this.****With that said. Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoyed it.**


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